DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
While sharing a common life in Christ with all truly regenerated people and adhering to the classic confessions of historic Christian orthodoxy, this Network regards the following declaration of faith as central in God’s revealed truth disclosed in the Bible:
- We believe that the Bible is God’s Word, that it was written by men divinely inspired; and that it is the supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
- We believe in one living and true God whose essence cannot be fully comprehended by man, but whose self-revelation disclosed, within a divine unity, three personal and eternal distinctions: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation and redemption.
- We believe in God the Father, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power. We rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
- We believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal and only begotten Son of God, conceived of the Holy Sprit, of virgin birth, sinless in His life, making atonement for the sins of the world by His death. We believe in His bodily resurrection, ascension and visible return to the world according to His promise.
- We believe in the Holy Spirit who came forth from God to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and to regenerate, sanctify and comfort those who believe in Jesus Christ.
- We believe that all men by nature and by choice are sinners, but that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” we believe, therefore, that those who accept Christ as Lord and Savior will rejoice forever in God’s presence; and those who refuse to accept Christ as Lord and Savior will be forever separated from God.
- We believe in the Church – a living, spiritual body of which Christ is the head, and of which all regenerated people are members. We believe that a visible church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ, immersed on a credible confession of faith, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe that to these visible churches were committed, for perpetual observance, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and that God has laid upon these churches the task of persuading a lost world to accept Jesus Christ as Savior, and to enthrone Him as the Lord and Master. We believe that all human betterment and social improvements is the inevitable by-product of such a Gospel.
- We believe that every human being has direct relationship with God, and is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and autonomous and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority; that, therefore, Church and State must be kept separate as having different function, each fulfilling its duties, free from the dictation or patronage of the other.